Project Life Week 2 - a little late :)

Last week was crazy busy for me so I didn't have time to blog, work on my PL or really do anything fun!  We had a big gathering at our house on Saturday and I've been in the process of cleaning and re-organizing cabinets and such for a couple of weeks.  Well, I had to wrap it up and clean up my messes before company came over! Good news...I got it all done and my house looks and feels great!  So good in fact, that I should have some extra play time this week to catch up on Project Life and get Weeks 3 & 4 completed!

I am so excited to share these pages with you.  I really stretched myself and used a lot of techniques that I don't normally use.  This is my secondary goal for PL, I want to spread my wings a little and become more adventurous.  I see lots of techniques every month from the DT at Studio Calico and I always think that they are cool, but I've always been to chicken to try them....well, not anymore.  I vow that I will try new things and I started in Week 2!

Enough jibberish, let's look at some pictures! Here is the complete page.  I really loved how this turned out!  The story behind this page is that Natalee was supposed to start gymnastics this week.  The forecast was calling for snow, but I didn't think that they would cancel because we were only supposed to get a dusting and it was just starting.  Well, we got to the gym and the lights were off and no one was there.  Natalee was crushed.  I took a couple of pictures in the dark outside the gym and with a creative push from Kelly Purkey, decided to make a spread about how disappointed Natalee was.

This picture is Natalee standing outside the gym when we realized that the doors were locked and they had called off class.  She was so disappointed.  That sad, pouty face just says it all.  I decided to use Basic Grey mini-mono stickers right on the picture to capture her mood at the time of the shot.

This is another picture that I took outside the gym...you can see the snowflakes falling, but I didn't think that it was enough, so I used some Studio Calico Wood Veneer asterisks and made my own.  I covered one with Maya Road chalk ink and used it as a stamp on the picture.  Then I covered the stamped image with Glossy Accents to seal it and make it shiny.  I also used SEI Ocean Deep Chalk ink on another and covered it with Glossy Accents and added it to the photo as well.  I finished it off with a title in AC Thickers.

I really wanted to remember Natalee's disappointment, so I looked up the word disappointed on Dictionary.com and decided to copy it onto a note card.  I found these cute colored striped note cards at Wal-Mart for less than $1.

I used some white and grey cardstock for this pocket.  I added a Studio Calico rub-on from eons ago that I've had in my stash because it kindof looked like frost on a windowpane.  I used Studio Calico Anthology alphas and distressed them a little with the White Maya Road chalk ink.  I also used Prima Tin Can chalk ink on the edges of the paper to tie in the gray.

For the other side of this page, I wanted to do something light and fun so I decided to feature things that we do that we do during playtime.

I used some alpha stickers that I liked the font, but not the color and misted over them to capture the negative image.  I used several different Mister Huey's Mists:  Heirloom Blue, Custard, Estate Green, Plumb Thumb and Barnwood.  I then went to my sewing machine and used Navy thread to add a little more embellishment.

There is a story behind this picture.  We have a favorite Mexican joint and we usually eat there on Monday's when they have a Chimichanga special.  On this particular Monday, the kids decided that they were going to spend .50 each and get the fake mustaches out of the vending machine by the door.  Well, they pulled them out and then wore them the rest of the afternoon.  It was so funny to see them with those crazy BLONDE fake mustaches!  Well, I had to take their picture of course...and Alli was upset with herself for not playing along and made her own mustache out of a Air Heads wrapper.  It was just a taste of how funny these kids are every day and I had to include it in my PL!  I was sitting at my desk looking at my punches and realized that my EK bracket punch kindof looked like a mustache so I punched a piece of white cardstock and then added some Maya Rd brown chalk ink to make my mustache.

This photo is from the day that we took Natalee to see The Beauty & The Beast.  This is a special movie for us, Rich took me to see it in the theater on one of our first dates.  It was fun to share it with our daughter on the big screen 20 years later.  I used yellow and gray cardstock to back the photo and bring out some of the colors from the movie poster.  I actually go out from behind the camera for a change and let Rich take a picture of me and Natalee together.

Thanks for reading!

Project Life - Week 1

I wish that I could accurately put into words how much I am enjoying this project.  It is the perfect pairing with the Photo A Day class at Studio Calico.  I'm using my camera every day and I've taken more pictures in the first three weeks of this year than I did the first three months of last year!  I wanted to share my first week with you and let you see how much fun this project can be....if you haven't started yet, it's not too late....it's still early in the year!

This first image is a broad view of my first page.  I talk about the annual Nertz free for all that we have at my Mom's house every New Year's weekend.  We are all so competitive that cards are flying everywhere, but in the end, it's always Meagan at the top of the scoreboard.  One of these days one of us will beat her.  I also tossed in picture of Natalee. During our Nertz game, Rich set her up on the floor next to the table with Peter Pan on the laptop.  She really wanted to play, but finally settled for watching a movie with her beloved Woobie (the pink blanket) as long as she was close to the action!

The base of my Project Life album is the Becky Higgins Clementine Kit.  I also used Studio Calico Wood Veneer and Mister Huey's Heirloom Blue and Mister Huey's Estate Green mists to make my title for Page 1.  I also used a MME frame from the Penny Lane line to add a little extra pop!  

Page 2 tells the story of us trying to get home after New Year's weekend.  We got caught in a freak snowstorm and were stranded on I40 when the highway patrol closed the highway for several hours due to the number of accidents.  There were cars off the road everywhere and it was one of the only times that I can ever remember being white knuckled while driving.  We decided to call it a night and actually back-tracked almost an hour to find a hotel room.  A pizza picnic and some good online bedtime stories made it an adventure and we were able to get home safely the next day.  

I didn't do a whole lot of embellishing on this page, I really wanted to tell the story instead.  I used one of the cards from the Clementine kit and added the Studio Calico month stamp.  I also used my Hero Arts woodblock stamps to add the year.  A little piece of MME pink/white twine and a couple of little staples and I was all done!


Like I said, I'm super excited about this project and I've already ordered my pictures for Week 2.  I can't wait to pick them up and get started tomorrow night when I get Natalee to bed!  


Thanks for reading!

Gotcha Day 2012!

We call January 11th Gotcha Day.  We tell Natalee that it is the day that we officially "Gotcha."  Don't get me wrong, she has really been with us since she was a couple of hours old, but it wasn't official until 9 months later when we went before the Judge and she banged the gavel.  

Here are pictures of Natalee in January over the last 4 years:

January 2008

January 2009

January 2010

January 2011

January 2012

This last picture isn't the best, but it was all I could get today.  She was not into taking pictures at Chick-fil-a (her favorite).  She wanted to open her present, eat her lunch and then go play.  Mom and Dad played second fiddle to all of the kids in the play area...she made several new friends and was sad to say good-bye to them when it was time to go.  

Every year on January 11th, we stop, remember and count ourselves lucky to have this wonderful little girl in our lives.  She changed everything and made it all better, she is my sunshine, my love and my life.  Happy Gotcha Day Baby!

Love, 

Mommy

New Year, New Blogging Habits!

2012 is going to be a busy and fun-filled year, I'm so excited by all of the things that we have in store and I can't wait to share them with all of my friends and family through this blog.  One of my resolutions this year is to be a better blogger!  I've signed on for two projects to help me towards this goal.  The Photo A Day class at Studio Calico and Project Life.  I plan to share a lot of my photo's here on my blog so that my parents and in-laws can experience this year of Natalee's life through pictures when they are apart.  

Here is a collage of our first week of the Photo A Day class.  Starting at the top left corner:

1. Fried Potatoes - My Mom makes the best in the whole world and she gave me another lesson while I was at home for New Year's.  This was the best batch that I've ever made, not quite up to snuff when compared to hers, but closer than I've ever been.  
2. Natalee at the Park - it was 65 degrees on Friday, we had a blast at the park until the sun went down and it got cold again!
3. Natalee at Chick-fil-a - this is what happens when she is the only kid in the play area!
4. Pizza at the Hotel - we got a bit side-tracked on our journey home from Tennessee.  An unexpected snow caused lots of traffic issues and the highway closed leaving us to find a hotel for the night.  We made a fun night out of it.  
5. Nertz Marathon - a tradition at Mom's on New Year's.  We all gather around the table and play Nertz into the wee hours.  Lots of fun, laughter, insults and noise!
6. My least favorite part of traveling - LAUNDRY when you get home!
7. Natalee with Crazy Hair - we had a bit of fun during her bath last night. 

I was super productive on Saturday, I worked most of the day cleaning out the "junk" room and reclaiming it as my scrap space.  Once I sifted through all of the old product that I had piled up and made boxes to give away to family and friends, I had a nice clean scrap space to work on.  I spent a hour or so working on my Project Life title page.  I have it all done except for the pictures.  Can't wait to add them and then show it off.  I will work on Week 1 this week and share it as soon as I have it complete.  Off to finish editing my pictures and send them off for printing.  

Have a great week everyone!

Yikes! Time Flies!

Has it really been over 6 months since my last post...I'm such a bad blogger!  This year has just flown by.  I've been all over the place since March...seriously...I've been to Portland, OR, St. Louis, MO, Mesa, AZ, Manchester, NH and Buffalo, NY.  That doesn't even count all the trips back and forth to my folks and my in-laws to drop Natalee off before a trip or pick her up after I get back.  It's been a CRAZY year so far.  Only a few more trips to go and I get to be a home body for the rest of the year!

Funny story - I unpacked my briefcase (an old messenger bag) and washed it today.  It was filthy from all of my travels and needed a little TLC.  I had a pack of airplane peanuts in one of the pockets so I just tossed them on the kitchen table and didn't give them a second thought.  Natalee found them later and asked if she could have them.  She was getting ready to go and run some errands with her Daddy, so he told her that she could have them in the car.  He called me later to tell me that she asked him for her Airplane Seeds after their first stop.  I said, "Her What?"  He laughed and said that it took him a few minutes to figure it out too...she wanted her airplane peanuts...or in her mind...her Airplane Seeds.
I'll leave you with a few pictures.  My good friend Kelly Noel was driving back from a family vacation and stopped by Studio Calico for a quick visit.  She was nice enough to agree to take some pictures of Natalee and Claire while the boys went out on a farm tour with Greg.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these pictures and I wanted to share them with you.  Keep in mind that is was about 95 degrees and HUMID while she was snapping away.  Natalee's hair is usually straight as a stick, but she was having some hair challenges in the heat and humidity.  I'm just happy that Kelly finally coaxed some genuine smiles out of her.  I'll let you be the judge....

 This one is my new desktop background on my brand new laptop....I absolutely love that you can see her dimple!

 We had a hard time getting pictures of them together....Clarie kept wanting to dive off of the stool. 

 One word.....SASSY!

 One word.....SWEET!  This is my girl....big blue eyes, big dopey grin, big warm heart.  I love her to bits. 

 Just a couple of more and then I'll be done.  I took these of Claire and Natalee at Natee's big friend birthday party.  That is another post for another day...I just wanted to share these cute photos of them two of them together. 

I have some other stuff to share....I promise that it won't be 6 months before my next post!

Where does the time go?

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I just don't know where the time goes!  I have a couple of posts planned for the next week, including some really cute Christmas morning pictures. 

I'll leave you with a brief story from Natalee this morning.  She hasn't been feeling 100% these last few days, she has a little head cold and cough, but it hasn't slowed her down.  This morning she came running into the living room shouting, "It's snowing, that means we don't have to take the Christmas tree down!"  You see, she is slightly obsessed with leaving the Christmas tree up and has asked everyday if we can leave it up for a while.  We've been telling her that Christmas is over and that we have to take it down this weekend.  I guess in the 3 yr old mind, Snow = Christmas and Christmas = Pre-Lit Tree in Living Room. 

Here's hoping for an early Spring.....

Snow Day!

Here in Bowling Green, we had a whopping 4 inches of snow.  Everything was shut down for the day so we took a few minutes and went outside to play.  Natalee couldn't wait to get outside.  She was so patient as I layered on her clothes.  As I was adding her 3rd pair of socks she said, "Mommy, you are silly, I don't need 3 pairs of socks!"  When she came back in 30 min later, she told me that she was glad that she had on extra socks because her feet were still warm.
Here are some pictures of the things that Natalee learned today:

Daddy knows how to do fun things with snow!

It's fun to throw snow in the air and watch Mommy scramble back out of the way!

When you make Snow Angels, your hiney gets cold!

Lean forward at the end of the slope so that you don't fall over backwards when you stop!

All in all, we had a blast and had to drag her back in the house after 30 minutes.  It was only about 16 degrees today, so we couldn't stay out for very long.  By the time we came back in I had shot over 100 pictures and I could no longer feel my fingers. 

Note to self...look for gloves that allow fingers to be free for taking pictures, but help keep hands somewhat warm at next visit to the store because I think that it's going to be a fun winter. 

God Bless....